Indiana Pacers Chicago Bulls game recap

Hansbrough racked up team highs of 24 points and 13 rebounds but Indiana was swept in its home-and-home preseason series as the Bulls took a 93-85 victory Tuesday night in Chicago.

The mini-rematch of the 2011 first-round playoff series offered the Pacers a stark reminder of why Chicago posted the NBA's best record last season in reaching the Eastern Conference Finals: defense. Indiana shot below 40 percent in both games, including a .368 mark Tuesday, and had nearly has many turnovers (24) as assists (27).

Both teams unveiled their prized veteran free agent acquisitions. David West came off the Pacers' bench and produced eight points and four rebounds in a little more than 15 minutes. Richard Hamilton started at shooting guard for the Bulls and scored 13 points.

Three Pacers scored in double figures. Supporting Hansbrough, who shot 9-of-19 and had three assists and two steals, were Paul George (14 points, six rebounds, two steals but four turnovers) and Danny Granger (12 points, one rebound). The Pacers struggled to establish Roy Hibbert in the post and he wound up with just five points on 2-of-9 shooting.

Carlos Boozer led Chicago with 24 points on 11-of-17 shooting, adding seven rebounds. Luol Deng scored 14, Derrick Rose 12 with nine assists and Ronnie Brewer 11. The Bulls shot 51 percent from the field and had 30 assists on 39 field goals.

QUOTEWORTHY

Pacers coach Frank Vogel: "Defensively, we need to get tougher and clean up some areas out there. We also need to be tougher offensively. By that I mean we have to be tougher executing our offense and not let a defense like the Bulls take us out of it. It's all in the execution and what has hurt us is the short training camp. We have a lot of scoring weapons on offense."

West: "This has literally been my first six or seven days of basketball in nine months. I felt pretty good. I'm trying to learn a whole lot. The good thing about this group is that there is a core that is use to each other, so that helps a bit in terms of getting me through some spots where I may not be familiar with what we are looking for. But physically I felt OK."

STAT OF THE GAME

In two preseason games, Hansbrough totaled 71 minutes, 43 points and 24 rebounds, hitting 15-of-32 (.469) from the field and 13-of-15 (.867) from the free-throw line.

GAME DETAIL

In a flip-flop from Friday's game in Indianapolis, the starters came out cold but the bench kept the Pacers in the game in the first half. Chicago used a 13-2 run in the first quarter to open a 17-8 lead as the Pacers missed 14 of their first 18 shots. The Bulls, on the other hand, hit 10 of their first 13 in pushing the advantage to double figures, 22-11, late in the quarter.

Hansbrough took over in the opening minutes of the second period, scoring 11 points in a 15-8 run that cut the deficit to 34-32. But the Bulls' starters returned, quickly put together a 12-0 run and took a 50-42 lead into the locker room. The Pacers shot .318 from the field in the half compared to Chicago's .550 but stayed within reach by outscoring the Bulls 12-5 from the line. Hansbrough had 16 points and seven rebounds in the half.

Starting the third quarter as they did the first, the Bulls charged into the third quarter with a 13-5 run to quickly build their biggest lead to that point, 63-47. But Hansbrough again went to work, scoring six in a row to spark a 10-2 counter that made it a 10-point game, 72-62. The Bulls took a 78-66 lead into the fourth quarter.

West had an impact in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, scoring twice and playing solid defense inside as the Pacers cut the lead to 80-72 with 8:29 remaining. But soon after West checked out the Bulls again took control with an 11-2 run that rebuilt the lead to 91-74 on Rose's 3-pointer with 4:20 remaining and the Pacers were out of challenges.

NOTEWORTHY

West made his first appearance since joining the Pacers as a free agent from New Orleans last week, checking in midway through the first quarter. … Forward Louis Amundson, acquired Monday from Golden State for guard Brandon Rush, did not play. He is expected to join the team for practice Wednesday. … Free agent acquisition Jeff Pendergraph remained sidelined with a sore knee, but could return for the regular-season opener.

UP NEXT

The Pacers open the 66-game 2011-12 regular season on Dec. 26 at home against the Detroit Pistons (7 p.m., Fox Sports Indiana, WIBC 93.1 FM).